Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes
A customer of ours, based in Ascot, Berkshire, was recently hit by a DDoS (Distributed denial of service) attack. For those who don’t know, a DDoS attack uses thousands of virus infected devices on the internet to send junk requests to your website, overwhelming it, and preventing it from responding to legitimate requests. Our customer’s web host took the website offline to stop the DDoS attack from affecting other websites on the same platform. They had attempted to contact their web developer but couldn’t get hold of them. At this point our customer asked us to help.
The first step was to assess the situation.
- They were using a well regarded web host, but on a lower tier package which lacked advanced DDoS protections.
- The relevant DNS settings had a long TTL, which meant making certain changes would take days to become live
- The DDoS attack itself was sophisticated and almost indistinguishable from legitimate traffic.
- There was no clear motive for the attack, our customer was not asked for any payment to stop it.
The number one priority was to get the website back up and running as fast as possible. We agreed with our customer that upgrading the web host package and enabling its advanced DDoS protections was worth trying, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for faster, more drastic changes by lowering the TTL on relevant DNS records.
Fortunately for our customer, the advanced DDoS protections in the higher tier package was able to ride out the DDoS attack keeping the website online. Eventually the attacker gave up and the DDoS attack stopped.
If your website is important to your business we recommend checking your current web hosting arrangements, make sure you have sufficient DDoS protection in place before coming under attack!
How Telanova Supports Businesses in Ascot
Cyber threats like DDoS attacks can disrupt your business, causing downtime, lost revenue, and frustration. At Telanova, we provide expert IT support for businesses in Ascot and the surrounding areas, ensuring your website, network, and digital infrastructure remain secure.
If your business relies on its website or online services, don’t wait until an attack happens - make sure you have the right security measures in place today.
Learn more about our IT support in Ascot or call us on 01344 567 990 to discuss how we can protect your business from cyber threats.
